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Two Restaurants Planned for Myriad Gardens

The restaurant space in the Myriad Botanical Gardens will soon be occupied by the Park House.

Longtime local restaurateur Peter Holloway will open two restaurants in the Myriad Botanical Gardens by the end of 2013.

Holloway will partner with Justin Nicholas, owner/cook of the enormously popular Nic’s Grill, to open Ice House, a burger concept that will operate between March and November every year in the Devon Ice Rink space. Holloway will also take over the restaurant space that was recently home to the two-day OK Chefs Relief event over Memorial Day weekend to open Park House.

Holloway said the menu hasn’t been totally worked out for Park House, but chefs Cally Johnson (Big Truck Tacos, Cafe 501 Classen Curve) and Jonathan Krell (previously of Stella Modern Italian Food) will have input on the development and operation of the kitchen.

Holloway currently owns Cafe 501 in Classen Curve and the original location and bakery in Edmond along with the neighboring Boulevard Steakhouse and The Martini Lounge. He founded the original Pepperoni Grill in Penn Square Mall and learned his craft as an operator in the Val-Gene restaurant group that dominated the city from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Holloway hopes to open Ice House with Nicholas sometime in September before closing it in when ice-skating season arrives.

“We’re going to be open from March 1 through Oct. 31 every year,” he said. “So the idea is to get open for a few months this year, work out the kinks and be ready to roll next spring.”

Holloway said Nicholas will bring his samurai-like burger skills to the Ice House, but don’t expect the gargantuan version he sells at his 17-seat diner just north of the corner of NW 10 Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

The space was recently used for the two-day OK Chefs Relief benefit for Oklahoma's tornado victims.

“These will be a smaller version of what he does at 10th and Penn,” Holloway said.

He said Ice House will focus on burgers, shakes and beer.

As for Park House, Holloway said it will feature lunch and dinner service but emphasized the concept will feature affordable, approachable foods.

“There’s a wide variety of people who visit the Myriad Gardens,” he said. “We want all of them to feel welcome at the Park House.”

Holloway said its’ been exciting to be a part of a project that will mean so much to the downtown experience.

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As more details come available about the opening of the Ice House and Park House, I will share them. Stay tuned!

in downtown Oklahoma City, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman in downtown Oklahoma City, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman The restaurant space in the Myriad Botanical Gardens will soon be occupied by the Park House. The space was recently used for the two-day OK Chefs Relief benefit for Oklahoma's tornado victims.

Dave Cathey

The Oklahoman's food editor, Dave Cathey, keeps his eye on culinary arts and serves up news and reviews from Oklahoma’s booming food scene.
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